Real Madrid players celebrate after scoring a goal against Mallorca in a La Liga match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, May 14, 2025. /VCG
Real Madrid players celebrate after scoring a goal against Mallorca in a La Liga match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, May 14, 2025. /VCG
It was a matter of pride for Real Madrid.
There is little hope of winning La Liga this season for Los Blancos, but the last thing they wanted to do was to hand Barcelona the title in advance.
Real needed a goal deep into stoppage time to achieve their objective on Wednesday, as Jacobo Ramon scored five minutes into injury time, helping the home side rally past Mallorca 2-1 and delay Barcelona's title celebrations.
Mallorca took the lead on a goal by Martin Valjent in the 11th minute, and stayed ahead until Kylian Mbappe beat a couple of defenders to equalize in the 68th. The French striker remains in the race for the league's scoring title after reaching 28 goals, three more than Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski.
Mbappe had a hat-trick in Madrid's loss to Barcelona on Sunday, when the Catalan club virtually assured themselves of the title by coming from behind to win the last "El Clasico" of the season 4-3.
Real must claim their final two games, while hoping Barca fail to take two points from their three remaining matches.
"When we wear this shield we always must fight until the end," Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said. "Even though there is still a big gap, we will keep fighting until it's mathematically impossible."
Real lost all four games against Barcelona this season by a cumulative score of 16-7. The sweep also marked the first time for Barcelona to win every "El Clasico" in a campaign that featured at least three meetings between the two traditional rivals.
Madrid still have one last home match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium against Real Sociedad on May 25.
Ancelotti emphasized that he wasn't giving up on the league title just yet.
Source(s): AP